'WARE OF DICTOGRAPH
FROM
I I BOX
By ALVAH JORDON GARTH.
(Copyright. 1914,
"JNOl
(rlend in the world!" said
Rufus Deane, desolately, at six o'clock
- la the morning.
"A nest of comfort and true hearts
to cherish me," he added that same
evening.
For years he had lived alone, occu-
pylng a wretched attlo room with
poor family In the slums. Long since
he had lost the use of both his lower
limbs. He had been confined to the
one apartment, his wants attended to
by his landlord, but living In the most
narrow way. Somehow he managed to
crape up the few dollars required to
pay for board and keep each Saturday
night.
Then that day there had come to
. his lonely habitation a pretty, neat, but
plainly dressed young girl.
' "I am Rhoda Leslie," she said.
was Rhoda Merrill. Do you remember
the name?"
"Merrill?" repeated Mr. Dcane,
ought to! It was that of my best
friend, Robert Merrill."
"My father," said Rhoda, and her
eyes were filled with tears as she
noted the helpless condition of this
once proud and wealthy man. "He
never forgot, and I never will.
inougni you m another country, or
dead. It was only yesterday that I
learned about you poor, an invalid,
friendless. Oh, sir!" and her eyes ex
pressed the genuine love and gratl-
tude Bhe felt, "it seemed that I could
not come quick enough to your side.
You did everything for my father
when he was alive. He told me that
It was your money that kept me at
boarding school for two years. We
owe everything to you. See, sir, I am
Startled at Conversation Going On
Below.
Just married to the dearest young fel
low In the world. When I told him
about you, he Instantly ordered me to
remove you to our own little home.
We will be as your children, tenderly
caring for you all your life."
; Then the tears of the astoundod
and overcome old man mingled with
those of this bright angel of hope, who
had come to his succor at the darkest
moment of his life.
! She brought her husband with her
that evening, a stalwart, honest-faced
young man, wbb moved about and
spoke at the behest of her suggestion,
as though her sweet, loving voice
were rapt, directing music. It was
dusk when the closed carriage they
brought conveyed the old man to his
new home. He did not see that it was
located In a poor street, he did not no
tice that as they tenderly carried him
up the stairs the lower apartmentB
were furnished sparsely, Indicating
rigid economy, If not a scarcity of
money.
As they placed hira In a wheel chair
and turned on the lights a rapt cry
came from his Hps, ending In a sob of
mingled joy and gratitude,
i "This is your home," said Rhoda,
sweetly.
"And welcome, thrice welcome, sir,"
spoke blunt, plain Ernest Leslie. "We
realized how you could not got about
freely and have tried to make it com
fortable for you."
Comfortable! The bedridden old In
valid felt as if he had been lifted to a
new sphere of perfect luxury. It was
a large, roomy apartment, newly pa
pered. Two neatly curtained windows
looked out upon a pretty garden. There
were soft, warm rugs on the floor, a
fireplace, and as they brought up his
evening meal all this attention and
plenty reminded the old man of the
,day when he had wealth at his ready
'command.
I "You are the best husband in the
'world!" said Rhoda, as they left their
jguest comfortable and content In what
:waa to be his own special apartment.
"I love the old man because he was
igood to you," answered Ernest simply.
I "You are so willing to make sacri
jflces for others, Ernest," said Rhoda
jfondly.
J "Oh, we are young, and tho pleasure
lot seeing this dear old man happy and
cotofortable will compensate for the
loss of a few luxuries."
"He must not know how poor we
are, urged Khoda earnestly. He can
not leave his room, you know, to find
"Hit"
"No, let him have the fond dream
that we are able to surround him with
the comforts he so appreciates and en
Joys." Fond dream, indeed! To Rufue
Deane there came a period of ease
and comfort that made life one con
tinuous round of satisfaction. Nevei
were more ardent friends than th
bright, happy couple who ministered
to his wants as devotedly as though
they were really his children. Ha
told them mysteriously more than
once that "they should not lose by
it," but they paid no further heed to
the remark than to feel that his grati
tude well repaid them for their exer
tions. Then came dark days. Ernest Les
lie lost his position. It had corns
about through the firm employing him 1 V RD Disraeli put It Justly when
learning of his negotiations for a little 1 I he Ba'd that war does not solve,
store. These fell through because ha ' I but complicates, writes a corre
could not arrange for the payments !B spondent of the Chicago News
required. from Bulgaria. This truth
One month, two months, passed by ' was very clearly demonstrated In the
and Ernest found no work. Bravely, Balkans in the last two bloody years,
however, the devoted pair saw to It Tne Christian states were against the
that their honored guest, the old man TurIc ln order t0 solve by force of
upstairs, never suspected their real arms tne 'on8 mooted eastern ques
condltlon. They denied themselves tlon- Tne result of tne struggle in
every luxury. All they had to support
themselves with now was what Rhoda
earned by some fine sewing, and a
baby was coming, too.
The old man never surmised how
hard the shoe of poverty was pinching
until one morning, and then quite acci
dentally. Under the kind ministra
tions of Rhoda and her husband, good
food and sanitary surroundings, Mr.
Deane had got so that he could move
slowly about the room. As he neared
the open doorway that especial morn
ing he was amazed and then startled
at a conversation going on below.
Rhoda was pleading with the land
lord of the place for a respite of an
other week on rent payment. Her
hard-hearted creditor twitted her with
keeping a lazy burden, not even a rel
ative, upstairs. Amid her tearful
emotion Rhoda told of the love and
duty they felt towards her former
benefactor.
"The rent tomorrow, or out Into the
street you go!" roared the implacable
old landlord.
ine coarse scoundrel my poor.
little Rhoda!" raved Deane, and hob
bled to a corner of the room, pulled
open the top of his old trunk, and after
fumbling over its contents, brought
Into View a well-worn tin box. Then
with this he stumbled to the head ot
the stairs.
He could hear Rhoda sobbing bitter
ly, he could catch the rough censur
ing words of the landlord. He started
forward. A scream rang from Rhoda's
Hps and her creditor gazed agape, as
Mr. Deane lost his balance and came
rolling down the stairs. The tin box
came down with a slam and he on top
of It Remarkably active was the old
man. Excitement seemed to arouse
his energy. He sat up, shaking his
fist at the landlord.
"You insolent ruffian!" he shouted.
Rhoda, my dear, pay this man al
up, and ahead if he wants it, and he'd
better keep out of my way, after be
rating you the way he has!
And Mr. Deane opened the tin box
and took out a roll of bills, and besides
these there were a dozen valuable
seeming documents.
"Yours," he said, tendering Rhods
the box as the landlord retired you
brave, unselfish dear! I never sus
pected that you were poor, and kept
silent about the little fortune I had.
It is all yours, now."
And Ernest Leslie got his little store,
and Rufus Deane saw to it that they
shared the luxuries of life with him,
UNABLE TO RESIST IMPULSE
Solicitor, Refused Fundi, Showed Hit
Resentment In a Decidedly
"Cheeky" Manner.
Business men are industriously pur
sued by insistent people who make a
trade of soliciting money for societies
and movements too numerous to men
tion, and sometimes a disappointed so
licitor shows petty resentment when
his demands are refused.
Recently one ot them called on a
well-known restaurateur of New York
to obtain funds on some pretext, and
gained admission to the private of
fice. It is the habit of the distinguished
restaurateur, who rejoices in a heavy
beard, to play with his whiskers while
talking Intimately to callers. On thli
occasion he kept pulling his whiskers
as usual while affably protesting thai
tho solicitor's requests were impos
sible. -
Finally th"e caller became angry, Ha
reached over and pulled the whiskers
sharply several times.
"What does this mean?" gasped the
victim.
"Mean?" echoed the caller airily. "It
doeBn't mean anything. You cannot
resist playing with your whiskers-
neither can I."
Bullock' Freak Appetite.
A curious appetite has been dis
played by a bullock owned by a North
Lincolnshire (England) farmer. The
farmer found the hair had apparently
been cut off the tail ot six of his
horses, and a constable was instruct
ed to keep a special lookout Shortly
afterwards the constable saw a bul
lock eating the hair off a horse's heels
It "cleaned' the heels, and then de
voted its attention to the horse's tail,
The tails of the other horses wer
then found to show unmistakable signi
of having been bitten off, and hair was
found nearly all over the field.
Philosophy and Manliness.
Be a philosopher; but amidst al
your philosophy, be still a man.
Hume.
A Wig
als Peninsula Is well known to the
1 world. The Macedonian question,
which was the real eastern question
was not solved, but out of it sprang,
in addition to it, an Aegean question,
an Epirus question, a Thraclan ques
tion, a Dobroudjan question, and last,
but not least, the question of Saloniki.
I need not touch upon the subject
of the desolation and depopulation of
the affected districts, which today
have the appearance of a veritable
wilderness. The recent Balkan wars
cost the Balkan states $1,000,000,000
In money and a million lives, count
ing the thousands of victims of racial
persecution that died and are dying
from exposure and famine. In Bul
garia more than 350,000 refugees
sought shelter from Macedonia,
Thrace and Dobroudja.
Flight of Moslems.
Then followed the flight of the
Turkish population from Macedonia
and Novi-Pajaar district. In one
week some 10,000 MoslemB passed
through Sofia station on their way
to Asia. All were natives of Novi
Pajaar. The Turkish government re
taliated and during the last several
months tho Christians have been
forced to flee from Thrace and Asia
General view
Minor. This affected chiefly the
Greek element. Mr. Venizelos, in pro
testing to the porte, declared that in
Saloniki alone 5,000 Greek refugees
arrived dally for some time after
Easter.
Had the Balkan states foreseen the
terrible calamities that befell them as
a result of their war with the Turk,
I am sure they would have never un
dertaken it.
It is nearly a year since the last
war was over; still life in Macedonia,
Epirus and Thrace Is unbearable, the
people are on the verge of starvation,
the cities are decaying and commerce
is dead. Adrianople, Monastir, Uskub
and Saloniki, not to speak of the In
terior, are merely shadows of their
former state.
Saloniki, the capital of Macedonia,
has been declared by all to be dying
fast. When it is remembered that in
the days of the Apostle Paul Saloniki
was a very prosperous city numbering
some three hundred thousand Inhabi
tants, and that ln Turkish times, too,
it was second only to Constantinople
In importance, one Is at a loss to ac
count for Its stagnation and dilapida
tion today. Many believed that the
port in the hands of a modern state
would fare far better than under the
Turks.
Decay of Saloniki.
The reasons for the decay of Sa
loniki are obvious to those who are
versed in the history and conditions
of the Balkans. During Turkish
times Saloniki was a flourishing port
because It served as a distributing
port. It supplied with goods, not only
Macedonia, but also Epirus, Albania,
Thrace and even northeastern Bul
garia and southern Servia, Saloniki
goods were Bold even In Sofia and
Belgrade. That was made possible
because of the low tariff that existed
between Turkey and those states.
mammimmmmmmmmimmmmmm ! m i MIIIIBIIIil Mil If Will iHMMMMMBM
But Macedonia alone would have
been sufficient to feed Its capital,
That is why it Is Bald that Macedonia
could not exist without Saionlki and
vice versa. Today, however, Mace
donia Is divided between Greece,
Servia and Bulgaria, Greece having
the smallest part of It. Hence
loniki has no border land of any ac
count.
That being the case, not only has
the commerce ln and about Saloniki
been hampered, but the adjoining
states, Servia and Austria ln particu
lar, nave found It necessary to de
mand a free outlet at that nort,
Meeting after meeting has been held
and urgent requests have been made
by the citizens of Saloniki to the
Athenian government to find some
way of preventing the commercial
death of the city, but thus far in vain,
The sugar and flour Industry, the
shoe factories and nearly the entire
manufacturing system have been al
most destroyed. Business transac
tions are tardy and Insecure and the
exports and Imports for the year will
not amount to one-fourth the average
or rormer years.
Two weeks ago another mass meet
ing took place in the city which was
attended by leading Greek merchants
as well as others. It was urged in a
resolution that the city be made
free commercial town.
Hard Problem for Greece.
Under these circumstances one can
understand why Greece granted
servia a rree zone in that port. As
soon, however, as the news of thai
concession was made public Austria
demanded the same right. But should
s Saloniki
Austria be permitted to have free ac
cess to Saloniki it will be equivalent
to making the city another Hamburg.
Hence the question of Saloniki is now
puzzling Greece. Greece is placed ln
a difficult dilemma. She must choose
between a dead Saloniki, thereby de
priving thousands ot her citizens of
their dally bread, or yield to the de
mands of Servia and Austria and sub
sequently of all interested nations to
make it an International emporium,.
BIG SPENDERS ARE SCARCE
New York Hotel Man Says Patrons ol
the Present Day Are Much
More Economical.
. "Hotels and restaurants are expect
ing something more than usual from
society this winter," said one hotel
man, who is as well up on the restau
rant situation as anybody In New
York. "It is believed that fashionable
people will do little entertaining in
their homes. It will be cheaper and
easier to invite their friends to a
restaurant, w here they may have danc
ing after the dinner.
"As a matter of fact, the day of the
lavish spender is gone, so far as New
York is concerned. We shall nevet
see again the era that ended nine ot
ten years ago. Those were the days
when men from Chicago or Pittsburgh
vied with each other In the extrava
gance of their entertainments. It waj
nothing for a dinner to cost $25 a
cover. Now a days, the average Is
about $1.50.
"The change In spending habits has
forced the hotels to employ cost ac
countants. The manager of everj
modern house is now able to know,
when a mutton chop is placed on the
table, Just how much of each item oi
the hotel's expenses that chop has ta
carry."
ALWAYS POSSIBILITY OF ONE'S
WORDS BEING OVERHEARD.
Widespread Eavesdropping Hat Be
come a Common Thing Are Alto
Being Used to Save Time
In Commercial House.
Wherever you go h6wadays there's
very likely to be a dictograph listen
ing to every word you say and trans
mitting the sound of your voice to
somebody whose ears perhaps you
don't care at all about having your
conversation reach. In New York city
it is said 50 dictographs are purchased
every week by Jealous husbands and
wives, but the number ot these de
vices used for such doubtful domestic
purposes is small compared with those
which are being Installed for com
mercial purposes ln offices, stores and
factories.
The use of the dictograph to secure
evidence in a number of sensational
criminal cases has made the public
quite familiar with the methods by
which it makes widespread eaves
dropping possible. The transmitter
Is a little disk so small that only
careful search will reveal it when put
ln place behind a picture or some
where else on the wall. This trans
mitter is so sensitive that it will carry
every sound uttered in a room for long
distances. Carefully concealed wires
connect it with the receiving end ol
the apparatus, which is often dis
guised as a paper weight or hidden
away in a desk.
The work of paying tellers In many
large banks is greatly simplified by
the use of the dictograph. When a de
positor calls to withdraw a large
amount the teller may not be sure
that the account shows a sufficient
balance to cover the withdrawal, but
he does not like to offend by stating
bis doubts.
So the teller presses a button to sig
nal a bookkeeper to put his ear to the
other end of the dictograph system.
whose transmitter is concealed In the
teller's counter. Then the teller picks
up the check and remarks casually
but distinctly enough for the dicto
graph to carry his words: "Two thou
sand dollars. How will you have It,
Mr. Blank?"
This question is the signal for the
bookkeeper to turn to the ledger and
Bee if Mr. Blank's account is good for
$2,000. If it is he quickly signals the
teller by ringing a buzzer once; if it Is
not, he gives two rings.
In large safety deposit concerns
much tiresome running back and forth
Is saved by having the clerks in the
vaults and the bookkeepers in the
offices work with dictograph receivers
fastened to their ears and transmitters
on their chests. The wires connecting
them run down their trousers legs and
trail along the floor.
Claim agents of many corporations
find the dictograph of service ln de
tecting fraudulent claims for damages.
Each claimant his his witnesses
are made to wait for a few minutes ln
very completely "dictographed"
room. If the claim is fraudulent they
are likely to take this opportunity to
rehearse their stories and agree on
the testimony they are going to give.
nut their every whisper is heard and
taken down by a stenographer in an
Inner office, and the best laid plans are
often thus exposed by the conspirators
themselves.
Suggests Scotch Dish.
An enthusiastic who would lowe.
the cost of living suggests that Amer
icans eat the Scotch dish called hag-
mis philanthropist tells how It
is made. First, get the stomach of n
sheep, he says, and turn it inside out,
wash it and soak it in salt water.
Then take the liver, lights and heart
of the same sheep, boil them till they
are cooked all the way through, after
which mush them up, mix with
chopped onions and powdered oat
meal cakes, and season with pepper
and salt. Take this mess and put it In
the prepared Bheep's stomach and pour
in a cup of gravy. Sew up the mouth
of the stomach and punch little holes
around in it and boll it for four hours
and a half. After which it in Mton
'It was a brave man who ate the first
oyster," said Bomeone, but the Amer
ican who will eat this thing called hag
gis will be entitled to one of t.h
kaiser's iron crosses New York Let
ter to the Pittsburgh Dispatch.
Polncare Is Head of the Armw.
When M. Poincare visits the French
troops in the fighting line he does
nothing in the way of directing their
movements. He is, however, entitled
to do so, if he cared to exercise the
powers conferred on him. One of the
articles or a law passed in 1875 enacts
that the president shall rank as re
sponsible head ("chef agissant de sa
personne") of the army and the diplo
matic service, and, further, that in time
of war he may, if he so pleases, take
supreme command of the troops in ac
tion. This clause was inserted in the
constitution on the express demand of
Marshal MacMahon, and has never
been modified in any way.
Temperance Conundrum.
"I can't understand finance,
thing puzzles me extremely."
One
vnats that?"
"If they put so much water ln the
Btocks, how can money get tight?"
Too Much Love.
"Darling, I think of you every mo
ment in the day.''
"Law sakes, Tom, give some atten
tion to your work or you'll get fixed."
1 FT
TAKE TIME
I TO i
ffScmi
JUST A TRIFLE FASTIDIOUS
M. de Fouquleres, Arbiter of Elegance
In Pari, Wouldn't Even Eat Candy
Cigar In Ladle' Car.
A Newport woman, apropos of tha
Duchess de Gramont's crinoline ball,
was talking about Andre de Fouql
eres, the arbiter of elegance ln Paris,
"M. de Fouquleres is too meticul
ous ln his elegance," she said, with
a witty smile. "When a duke visits
him, he advances 18 steps. When It's
a baron, he advances six steps. When
it's an equal he does not advance at
all, and when It Is an inferior an
American, say he actually recoils!
"Oh, yes, M. de Fouquleres Is ridic
ulously meticulous. Once, en route
from Paris to Trouvllle, when he was
a little boy, a lady gave him a choco
late cigar.
" 'And what will you do with It?'
the lady asked.
"Little Andre put the end of the
chocolate cigar ln his mouth and rose.
" 'I'll go Into the Bmoklng compart
ment and eat it,' he said." Minneap
olis Journal.
Rich Pickings.
The British naval officer was on hl
way to the bank with several bags
of prize money.
"Hallo," exclaimed a friend, "what
have you there?"
"These," replied the Britisher, "are
the fortunes of war that you've so
often read about." Boston Evening
Transcript.
Unpatriotic.
"Henry writes that he's Joined th
Alpha Beta Etas," said Mr. Dawkins
a self-made man. "What's that?"
"It's a Greek letter fraternity," an
Bwered Mrs. Dawkins.
"Umph!" snorted Mr. Dawkins. "I'd
like to know why he couldn't Join
something American, Instead of tafc
ing up with a lot of foreigners."
The Brighter Side.
"This war in Europe Is terrible."
"I agree with you. Still, I'm mon
fortunate than some people."
'How is that?"
"I'm not acquainted with any re
tired military men who insist on tell
ing me how It ought to be fought."
A Slow Pupil.
There's many a slip betwixt
th
cup and the Hp, you know."
'Yes. I've heard that quotation be
fore, but lately I've been Impressed bj
the fact that there Is many a sIId be
tween the Initial tango lesson and th
attainment of a certain degree of pro
nciency as a tango dancer."
A Stumbling Block.
"Well, did you settle your areumenl
with Colonel Whiffersby about th
Russian campaign against the Aus
trians?"
'No. We decided to suspend our an
gument until we learned how to pro
nounce Przemysl."
AND 8CARCE, TOO.
Customer Bring me an extra good
steak, and have it very rare.
Waiter Boss, a extry good steak it
dig heah restrant's alius very rare!
Preclou Finance.
"Johnny!" exclaimed the careful
mother. "You have shaken nearly all
the money out of your tin bank! "
"Yes'm. I'm not taking any chancer
on having my little bank bawled oul
for hoarding the stuff."
Superficial Estimate.
"You can't Judge a man by his coat
"No. But in the light of present
styles, it la more generous to Judg
him by his cnat than by his hat."
About Gone.
"How is W'asserby's credit in town'
"It must be very low by this time
Whea I was here three years ago h
waa giving it oxygen."